Lunch box

ABSTRACT

A lunch box comprising: a receptacle and a cover able to cover the receptacle. The receptacle is provided therein with partitions to divide the receptacle into a plurality of receiving spaces; in which a receiving space is used to store therein soup, and the remaining spaces are used to store therein cooked rice or repast. And in which the cover is formed thereon downwardly recessed areas in corresponding to and in opposition respectively to the receiving spaces of the receptacle; the bottoms or peripheries of the receiving spaces of the cover and the partitions of the receiving spaces of the receptacle at the positions opposite respectively to those of the bottoms or peripheries are provided with engaging means for mutual engaging, so that the cover and the receptacle can be tightly engaging with each other to prevent spilling of soup or food juices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a lunch box, and more particularly to alunch box for storing therein soup and cooked food. The soup or foodjuices therein will not spill or mingle, the lunch box can be a lunchbox used in our daily life or the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Lunch boxes are one kind of utensils necessary for meals. Theconventional structure of lunch box is only a container for storingtherein food and it has a cover able to cover the container. The lunchbox mostly is made of metal (such as stainless steel). However, due tovarious requirements, the structure of a lunch box has been variant; forexample, a dual layer lunch box has a first layer that is a deepercontainer to be used for receiving staple food (rice or noodle), and hasa second layer that is a shallower container to be hung on the peripheryof the first layer, the second layer is divided into several receivingareas for receiving cooked meats and vegetables. Thus, the staple food,the cooked meats and vegetables are separated with one another to havetheir flavor and tastes maintained. Certainly, there are many kinds oflunch boxes such as heat maintaining lunch boxes or portable lunch boxesetc.

Modern people in busy lives, particularly students and thosenine-to-fivers, hardly have time to prepare meals in lunch boxes. Thismakes increased population of people who are eating outside homes oroffices. Presently, containers to be stored therein food for eatingoutside homes or offices mostly are the lunch boxes capable of beingheated by microwave ovens, such as those lunch boxes sold in convenientstores and they are mainly made of PP (polypropylene); and such lunchboxes mostly are provided only with a plurality of separated spaces forreceiving staple food or cooked meats and vegetables except independentspace for receiving soup. Even when there is independent space forreceiving soup, the soup is stored in a cup covered with a small coverto avoid being toppling over to have the soup spilled out duringcarrying in a road.

Although providing cups for storing therein soups increases thevendibility of lunch boxes, it also increases the cost of production ofthe lunch boxes, if including the costs of soup cups, cup covers, andthe time for covering the covers on the soup cups.

Therefore, to provide a lunch box to store therein food including soupand repast directly is the main goal of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a lunch boxprovided at least with a space for storing therein soup, and the soupwill not spill after storing.

The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a lunchbox in which repast and food juices will not spill or mingle.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a lunch boxthat can have heat therein maintained, have coldness therein maintained,and have freshness of soup and repast therein maintained too.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide a lunch boxthat can be formed a set of handle for easy carrying in a simple way.

Therefore, in order to achieve the above objectives, the lunch boxstructure of the present invention comprises: a receptacle and a coverable to cover the receptacle. The receptacle is provided therein withpartitions to divide the receptacle into a plurality of receivingspaces. In which a receiving space is used to store therein soup and theremaining spaces are used to store therein cooked rice or repast. Thecover is formed thereon downwardly recessed areas in corresponding toand in opposition respectively to the receiving spaces of thereceptacle; the bottoms or peripheries of the cover and the partitionsof the receiving spaces of the receptacle at the positions oppositerespectively to those of the bottoms or peripheries are provided withengaging means for mutual engaging, so that the cover and the receptaclecan be tightly engaged with each other to prevent spilling of soup.

One feature of the present invention resides in that: a plurality ofoutwardly protruding areas formed between the recessed areas on theupper surface of the cover and the receiving spaces on the bottomsurface of the receptacle of the lunch box are enveloped with heatinsulating material for having heat therein maintained, having coldnesstherein maintained, and having freshness of soup and repast thereinmaintained too.

Another feature of the present invention resides in that: a flangeencircles the periphery of the receptacle, the flange is provided with atearing line, in order that a part of the flange can be torn off alongthe tearing line to form a set of handle.

Another feature of the present invention resides in that: the peripheryof the cover protrudes upwards to form a circle of protruding wall; theinner wall surface of the protruding wall has a circling recess to allowa planar sheet to be embedded therein to seal the upper surface of thecover. And the surface of the planar sheet can be printed thereon withadvertisement letters or patterns.

The present invention will be apparent in its content and effect to beachieved after reading the detailed description of the preferredembodiment thereof in reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of lunch box of thepresent invention before assembling;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of lunch box of thepresent invention after assembling;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are sectional schematic views showing engagement ofelements of the first embodiment of lunch box of the present invention(respectively before and after engagement);

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken from a sectional line 3-3 in FIG. 1 toshow that the lunch box is enveloped with heat insulating material;

FIG. 5 is a perspective schematic view of the present invention showingsome recessed areas of an embodiment of the present invention are usedfor receiving some tableware.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged perspective schematic view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of the presentinvention with a set of handle formed in a simple way;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the appearance when a plurality oflunch boxes of the present invention are piled together;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the present invention before assemblingshowing another status of using;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of lunch box of thepresent invention before assembling showing the elements therein, andshowing that an area for receiving soup is provided with a firstengaging means (ridged portion) and that the cover is formed thereon atan area in opposition to that of the first engaging means a secondengaging means (recessed portion);

FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of the presentinvention, wherein the first engaging means is a first lip protrudingout of the top of a partition, while the second engaging means is asecond lip protruding out of the bottom of the cover; thereby a forcecan be exerted to cover the cover on the receptacle to render the firstand the second lip to tightly engage with each other;

FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view taken from FIG. 11 showingengagement of the first engaging means with the second engaging means;

FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of the presentinvention showing that one side of the cover is adapted to connectingwith one side of the receptacle to allow direct turning over of thecover on the receptacle for tight covering;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the presentinvention showing that the cover of a lunch box is provided thereon withanother recessed area for receiving tableware; and

FIG. 15 is a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of thepresent invention showing that the partition around each receiving spacehas on its top a recessed portion, while the cover is formed thereon atan area in opposition to that of the receiving space a ridged portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring firstly to FIGS. 1, 2, 3A and 3B showing perspective viewsbefore and after assembling and sectional schematic views before andafter engagement of elements of a first embodiment of lunch box 1 of thepresent invention, the lunch box 1 comprises: a receptacle 10 and acover 20 able to cover the receptacle 10.

The receptacle 10 is provided therein with partitions 11 to divide thereceptacle 10 into a plurality of receiving spaces 111, 112 and 113 etc.Each of the receiving spaces 111, 112 and 113 has a first height “H” forreceiving staple food (such as rice or noodle) or cooked meats andvegetables. In which the receiving space 113 is used to store thereinsoup or some other food juices.

The cover 20 is formed downwardly recessed areas 23 a, 23 b and 23 cetc. in corresponding to and in opposition respectively to the receivingspaces 113, 112 and 111 etc. of the receptacle 10. Each of the recessedareas 23 a, 23 b and 23 c has a second height “h” which is smaller thanthe height “H”, in order that each of the receiving spaces 111, 112 and113 etc. has a sufficient space for receiving food. The bottoms orperipheries of the recessed areas 23 a, 23 b and 23 c of the cover 20and the partitions 11 of the receiving spaces 113, 112 and 111 of thereceptacle 10 at the positions opposite respectively to those of thebottoms or peripheries are provided with engaging means for mutualengaging. So that the cover 20 and the receptacle 10 can be tightlyengaged with each other to prevent soup or food juices in the receivingspaces 111, 112 and 113 from spilling outside or mingling.

In one embodiment, for the purpose of tight engaging of the cover 20with the receptacle 10, the partition 11 on the periphery of each of thereceiving spaces 111, 112 and 113 is provided thereon with a firstengaging means which is defined a stepped portion 14 provided on theinner wall of the partition 11. Each stepped portion 14 includes a firstsurface 141 and a second surface 142 having therebetween an angle thatpreferably is an acute included angle θ1 having preferably between 80-89degrees.

The cover 20 includes an upper surface 21 and a lower surface 22. Thelower surface 22 is provided thereon with a plurality of second engagingmeans in opposition respectively to those of first engaging means whenthe cover 20 covers the receptacle 10. In this embodiment, the pluralityof second engaging means take advantage of downwardly recessing of theupper surface 21 of the cover 20 to protrude downwardly out of the lowersurface 22 of the cover 20. Thereby the lower surface 22 of the cover 20forms bottoms 221 and peripheries 222. Between each of the bottoms 221and the peripheries 222 is an obtuse included angle θ2 which ispreferably a supplementary angle to the acute included angle θ1. Hencewhen the cover 20 covers the receptacle 10, the bottoms 221 protrudingdownwardly out of the lower surface 22 of the cover 20 and theperipheries 222 can exactly be firmly engaged with the stepped portions14 to make tight engaging of the cover 20 with the receptacle 10, sothat soup and food juices in the receiving spaces 111, 112 and 113 donot spill outside nor mingle

In another embodiment, each first engaging means can be provided on thetop of each partition 11; while each second engaging means can beprovided on the bottom of the cover 20 at each corresponding position tothat of the first engaging means respectively to engage with the latter(this will be described hereinafter).

Referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of outwardly protruding areas formedbetween the recessed areas 23 a, 23 b and 23 c of the cover 20 of thelunch box 1 and the receiving spaces 111, 112 and 113 on the bottomsurface of the receptacle 10 are enveloped with heat insulating material50, 50 a for having heat in the receptacle 10 maintained, havingcoldness therein maintained, and having freshness therein maintainedtoo. When the embodiment in FIG. 4 is provided with heat insulating orheat maintaining material, the lunch box 1 of the present invention canbe used as a container of ice products such as ice cream etc.

And referring to FIG. 5, the recessed areas 23 a, 23 b and 23 c formedon the upper surface 21 of the cover 20 can be used to receive thereintissue papers 44, tableware (such as chopsticks 40 and spoons 41 etc.),flavoring packs 42 and tooth picks 43 etc.

Referring to FIG. 6, the periphery of the cover 20 has a circle ofupwardly protruding wall 25; the inner wall surface of the protrudingwall 25 has a circling recess 251 to allow a planar sheet 27 to beembedded therein to close the upper surface 21 of the cover 20, this cankeep neat of the tableware and avoid scattering of the things (thetableware 40, 41, flavoring packs 42 and tooth picks 43 etc) in thereceiving spaces 111, 112 and 113. And the surface of the planar sheet27 can be printed thereon with advertisement letters or patterns 271etc.

And again referring to FIG. 1, a flange 60 encircles the periphery ofthe receptacle 10. The flange 60 is provided with a tearing line 61, inorder that a part of the flange 60 can be torn off along the tearingline 61 to form a set of handle, such as is shown in FIG. 7. Forming ofthe tearing line 61 is performed in pressing of a mold; a predeterminedarea of the flange 60 is pressed to be particularly thin to bebeneficial for tearing the flange 60 by a user.

When in practicing, the lunch box 1 can be used to store therein anyfood including solid food and food juices. Alternatively, a lunch boxable to avoid the food juices in the receiving spaces 111, 112 and 113to mingle can further be used as a freshness keeping container to reducepossibility of mingling of flavors in the receiving spaces 111, 112 and113. And therefore the lunch box can be used as a portable foodcontainer.

Moreover, again referring to FIG. 8, the outwardly protruding areasformed from the receiving spaces 113, 112 and 111 on the bottom surfaceof the receptacle 10 are in corresponding and in opposition respectivelyto the recessed areas 23 a, 23 b and 23 c of the cover 20 of the lunchbox 1. Therefore, a plurality of lunch boxes can be piled up one onanother conveniently. Such as is shown in FIG. 9, in practicalapplication, a plurality of receptacles 10 can be used for receivingcooked meats, vegetables and staple food, while only the uppermostreceptacle 10 has a cover 20 placed thereon.

The material of the lunch box 1 can be PP (polypropylene) to be heatedin a microwave oven or to be free of washing and to be discarded, or canbe any other materials suitable for recycled using.

Referring to FIG. 10 showing another embodiment of lunch box of thepresent invention, the lunch box comprises a receptacle 70 and a cover80 able to cover the receptacle 70.

The receptacle 70 is a food container having a receiving unit 71,partitions 72 are provided inside of the receiving unit 71 to divide thereceptacle 70 into a plurality of receiving spaces 211, 212, 213 forreceiving staple food (rice or noodle) or cooked meats and vegetables,wherein one receiving space 211 is used particularly to store thereinsoup.

The receiving space 211 used particularly to store therein soup has onits top periphery a circle of ridged portion 73 forming a first engagingmeans. The cover 80 has thereon an upper surface 81 and a lower surface82; the lower surface 82 is provided thereon with a recessed portion 83forming a second engaging means in opposition to the ridged portion 73of the first engaging means. When the cover 80 covers the receptacle 70,the first engaging means can have tight engaging with the secondengaging means by embedding of the ridged portion 73 in the recessedportion 83, and thereby soup in the receiving space 211 does not spilloutside.

And as shown in FIG. 11, the first engaging means of the receptacle 70can be a first lip 131 with a reversely hooking edge protruding out ofthe top of the partitions 72, while the second engaging means of thecover 80 can be a second lip 231 with a reversely hooking edgeprotruding out of the bottom 82 of the cover 80. Thereby a force can beexerted to cover the cover 80 on the receptacle 70 to render the firstand the second lips 131, 231 to tightly engage with each other. Therebysoup in the receiving space 211 does not spill outside (as shown in FIG.12).

The cover 80 can also be integrally formed with the receptacle 70, i.e.,one side of the cover 80 is connected with one side of the receptacle70, such as is shown in FIG. 13, to allow direct turning over of thecover 80 along a direction “D” on the receptacle 70 for tight coveringby mutual engaging between the first and the second lips 131, 231. Suchdesigning renders a person of the art of food and beverage to directlycover the cover 80 onto the receptacle 70 after placing in staple food,cooked meats, vegetables and soup sequentially. There is no need of anadditional means such as rubber rings etc. to fix the cover 80 onto thereceptacle 70. Thereby packing speed for lunch boxes can be increased.Certainly, the periphery of the receptacle 70 can be provided with anymeans that can fixedly engage the cover 80 onto the receptacle 70without helping of additional rubber rings.

Although the receiving space 211 can be used to receive soup, aconventional soup cup 30 can still be placed therein. In this way,people of the art of food and beverage can flexibly use soup cups inmanufacturing lunch boxes.

And referring to FIG. 14, the upper surface 81 of the cover 80 can beprovided thereon with a recessed area 84 for receiving tableware (suchas chopsticks and spoons etc.). The recessed area 84 can also be addedthereon with a lid 841 to keep neat of the tableware. The recessed area84 can also be added therein with clamping means for stably clamping thetableware (not shown). Certainly, one of the above stated pluralreceiving spaces can also be used as a tableware receiving space (notshown).

In practicing, the tops of all the partitions 72 can further be providedwith first engaging means and second engaging means. Referring to FIG.15, it shows that each of the partitions 72 of the receptacle 70 has onits top a continuous circle of a recessed portion 132. The lower surface82 of the cover 80 can be provided thereon with a circle of ridgedportion 232 in corresponding to and in opposition to the recessedportion 132; thereby when the cover 20 covers the receptacle 10, theridged portion 232 is tightly engaged in the recessed portion 132 toprevent food juices in the receiving spaces from spilling outside ormingling.

Therefore, the present invention has the following advantages:

1. The structure of lunch box of the present invention renders thebottoms or peripheries of the recessed areas of the cover to be engagedwith the partitions of the receiving spaces of the receptacle at thepositions opposite respectively to those of the bottoms or peripheries,so that a well-engaging lunch box is formed and soup therein isprevented from spilling outside.

2. The lunch box is different from the conventional lunch boxes, it canbe directly stored therein soup, and can be fast assembled and detachedby providing the mutually engageable first and second engaging means toform a fast assembling and detaching lunch box structure. This saves thecost of the requisition to use a soup cup, and omits the step ofcovering a cover onto the soup cup, and to thereby save the time inmanufacturing each of such a lunch box.

3. The lunch box at least can have excellent tight engaging at the topsof the partitions after storing soup by precise engagement of the firstand the second engaging means. And this idea can be extended to apply toeach receiving space, hence food juices in staple food, cooked meats andvegetables will not mingle, so that the staple food, the cooked meatsand the vegetables can surely keep their original flavors and tastes.

4. The lunch box can be made a discardable one to achieve an objectiveof simplifying and convenience. Alternatively, it can be made a lunchbox able to use repeatedly to obtain an environment-friendly objective.

5. The lunch box is enveloped therearound heat insulating material tohave heat therein maintained, have coldness therein maintained, and havefreshness therein maintained too.

6. The lunch box is provided thereon with a simple set of handle infavor of carrying.

In conclusion, according to the description disclosed and drawingsabove, the present invention surely can achieve the expected objectivesthereof to provide a lunch box able to store therein soup and foodjuices of repast in the receiving spaces is prevented from mingling.

The embodiment stated above is only for illustrating the presentinvention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that variousequivalent modifications or changes according to the idea of and withoutdeparting from the disclosing and teaching of this invention shall alsofall within technical scope of the appended claims.

1. A lunch box comprising: a receptacle and a cover, said receptacle isprovided therein with partitions to divide said receptacle into aplurality of receiving spaces, in which one of said receiving spaces isused to store therein soup, the remaining of said receiving spaces areused to store therein other foods, said cover includes an upper surfaceand a lower surface, said lunch box is characterized in that: said coveris formed thereon downwardly recessed areas in corresponding to and inopposition respectively to said receiving spaces of said receptacle;bottoms or peripheries of said receiving spaces of said cover and saidpartitions of said receiving spaces of said receptacle at positionsopposite respectively to those of said bottoms or peripheries areprovided with engaging means for mutual engaging, so that said cover andsaid receptacle are tightly engaging with each other to prevent spillingof soup.
 2. The lunch box as in claim 1, wherein: said partitions ofsaid receiving spaces of said receptacle are provided thereon with aplurality of first engaging means which have stepped portions on innerwalls of said partitions, said lower surface of said cover is providedthereon with a plurality of second engaging means in opposition to saidfirst engaging means, said second engaging means take advantage ofdownwardly recessing of said upper surface of said cover to protrudedownwardly out of said lower surface of said cover.
 3. The lunch box asin claim 1, wherein: each of said partitions is provided thereon with afirst engaging means, a plurality of second engaging means are providedin opposition respectively to those said first engaging means, so thatfood juices in said receiving spaces does not spill outside nor mingle.4. The lunch box as in claim 1, wherein: said recessed areas of saidcover are used to receive therein tableware and flavoring packs.
 5. Thelunch box as in claim 1, wherein: a plurality of outwardly protrudingareas formed between said recessed areas of said cover of said lunch boxand said receiving spaces on said bottom surface of said receptacle areenveloped with heat insulating material for heat maintaining, coldnesskeeping and freshness keeping.
 6. The lunch box as in claim 1, wherein:said heat insulating material is foam sponge.
 7. The lunch box as inclaim 1, wherein: a flange encircles a periphery of said receptacle,said flange is provided with a tearing line, in order that said flangeis adapted to being torn off a part of it along said tearing line toform a set of handle.
 8. The lunch box as in claim 1, wherein: asurrounding periphery of said cover protrudes upwards to form a circleof protruding wall, an inner wall surface of said protruding wall has acircling recess to allow a planar sheet to be embedded therein to sealsaid upper surface of said cover.
 9. The lunch box as in claim 8,wherein: a surface of said planar sheet is printed thereon withadvertisement letters or patterns.
 10. A lunch box comprising: areceptacle and a cover, said receptacle is provided therein withpartitions to divide said receptacle into a plurality of receivingspaces, in which one of said receiving spaces is used to store thereinsoup, the remaining of said receiving spaces are used to store thereinother kinds of foods, said cover includes an upper surface and a lowersurface, said lunch box is characterized in that: said receptacle isprovided at least on one of said partitions of said receiving spaces tostore therein soup with a first engaging means; a lower surface of saidcover is provided thereon with a second engaging means in opposition tosaid first engaging means, when said cover covers said receptacle, saidfirst and second engaging means are tightly engaged with each other toprevent spilling of soup.
 11. The lunch box as in claim 10, wherein:said first engaging means has a stepped portion on an inner wall of saidone of said partitions, said second engaging means takes advantage ofdownwardly recessing of said upper surface of said cover to protrudedownwardly out of said lower surface of said cover.
 12. The lunch box asin claim 10, wherein: said first engaging means is provided on a top ofsaid one of said partitions, said second engaging means is provided onsaid lower surface of said cover in opposition to said first engagingmeans in order that said first engaging means is engaged with saidsecond engaging means.
 13. The lunch box as in claim 10, wherein: saidpartitions of all said receiving spaces each is provided with a firstengaging means as said first engaging means, and a plurality of secondengaging means as said second engaging means are provided on said lowersurface of said cover in opposition respectively to all said firstengaging means, so that food juices in said receiving spaces of saidlunch box does not spill outside or mingle.
 14. The lunch box as inclaim 10, wherein: said first engaging means is a ridged portion, whilesaid second engaging means is a recessed portion for inserting of saidridged portion therein.
 15. The lunch box as in claim 10, wherein: saidsecond engaging means is a ridged portion, while said first engagingmeans is a recessed portion for inserting of said ridged portiontherein.
 16. The lunch box as in claim 10, wherein: said first engagingmeans is a first lip protruding out of a top of on one of saidpartitions, while said second engaging means is a second lip protrudingout of a bottom of said cover; thereby a force exerted to cover saidcover on said receptacle renders said first and said second engagingmeans to tightly engage with each other.
 17. The lunch box as in claim10, wherein: one side of said cover is adapted to engaging with one sideof said receptacle to allow direct turning over of said cover on saidreceptacle for tight covering.
 18. The lunch box as in claim 10,wherein: said one of said receiving spaces used to store therein soup isfurther placed separately therein with a soup cup.
 19. The lunch box asin claim 10, wherein: one of said receiving spaces is used for receivingtableware.
 20. The lunch box as in claim 10, wherein: said cover isprovided thereon with a recessed area for receiving tableware.